Itty Bitty Babies Club (Slow Gainers)

[Seity]

Top ups worked for us. Gabriel was born at the bottom of the charts and took 2 weeks to get back up to his birth weight, which was normal. Then he didn't gain weight well and he completely fell off the charts. Since he was already tiny to begin with, they had me try formula for a week and he gained almost a full pound in one week. Turned out I had a low milk supply and so he wasn't quite getting enough to eat. He was eating constantly and my supply just wasn't increasing. So, now we have to supplement with formula and his weight is slowly creeping up toward the 1st percentile.

 

[snugglebot]

Well if nothing else I am finding the formula/combo feeding much more enjoyable than nursing. Finley is much more relaxed when it comes to feeding from the bottle than the boob. As am I. I haven't weighed him since our appt and no phone call yet from the peds

I was secretly hoping maybe the formula would also help with his sleep but alas it has not. He is still waking 2-3 times in the night to feed. and is now waking at 3-4 am pooping his diaper or with a tummy ache and thus up for the day until 7 am when he takes a 1 hr nap...zzzzzz

People are starting to tell me to let him CIO but I just can't do that until I know he is getting enough to eat and doesn't need the nightime feeds....

 

[Eve]

Hi everyone!!!

Kayleigh only had the one growth spurt that I noticed at around 6 months. We borrowed a jumperoo from a friend of mine and when we first got it, Kayleigh was on number 1 setting (lowest) and within 1 week she was put up to level 2!! lol I would say she is around 15.5lbs now which is amazing for her! She went up real fast lately. Her weights have been

Birth- 6lbs 4.09oz
6 days after birth 5lbs14oz (my birth weight)
3 weeks-6lbs 5oz
5 weeks 1 day- 7lbs 5oz
10 weeks- 9lbs 3oz
11 weeks 5 days 9lbs 7oz
15 weeks 3 days- 10lbs 14oz
22 weeks - 12lbs 10oz
6 months 5 days 14lbs 9oz (approx, done on moms scale... lol)

I'm wondering what she weighs now! Needles on Aug 16th.. shall find out then

 

[snugglebot]

I had a health nurse tell me they just did some research and there is no such thing as growth spurts. They would weigh/measure babies after the "so called growth spurts" and babies wouldn't grow more than normal. they just eat lots more. I dunno, just what she said

 

[Seity]

Gabriel doesn't sleep better with formula either snugglebot. He pooped more for a while after the switch and I think it was his body regulating to the extra food. The poops settled down after a bit.
re: growth spurts - it's not necessarily weight, it can also be length and mental developments that cause the extra eating, so weighing a baby before and after wouldn't show those changes.

 

[florabean1981]

I agree with the mental developments. apparently they use up 10 times more energy just functioning than an adult does, so when they're hitting those developmental milestones, it take crazy amounts of energy & concentration & frustration, increased movement etc, so they're burning huge amounts of calories, therefore increase their feeding to compensate...

 

[bloodbinds]

Hello ladies! Only just seen this group

My Itty Bitty baby is 9 months (today!!) and weights 15lb3oz at last weigh in (2 weeks ago) so is on the 2nd percentile and is the weight of an average 5 month old.

She is a happy baby and has hit all her milestones (crawling, sittin up, pulling herself up, cruising etc) and is perfectly happy aside from being perfectly tiny!

She wasn't prem or anything, just had a slow weight gain from day one (breastfed) but she is still amazing :-D

Nice to meet you all, and your Itty Bitty babies!!! xx

 

[WW1]

welcome bloodbinds

Your LO is gorgeous!

 

[HannahGraceee]

My 15 month old is 20lbs! and still in 6-9Months

 

[snugglebot]

Well we had our trip to the ped. He said because the slow down happened when he was young he isn't concerned and doesn't think it is gastro related. We are doing an urinalysis just to be sure, but he isn't worried.

p.s. Combo feeding seems to be something my little man needed to grow faster! He put on a pound in a week and a half and feeds so much more contently from the bottle than he ever did from nursing (he cried and fussed all the time).

 

[Seity]

Glad the combo feeding is working for you snugglebot. Gabriel was always fussing at the breast too. It's so much better now that he's getting enough food.

 

[florabean1981]

Snugglebot & seity- It's good to hear that both your little ones are thriving now with the combi-feeding

& welcome to Hannah & Bloodbinds

Harry's now just over 10 months old, is crawling now (yay!), cut his first tooth lastnight & now weighs 18lbs 4oz, so still holding on steady in the 9th centile, so all good here

How's everyone else doing?

 

[Tryin4Number3]

Hi ladies, can i join you?

I'm Beth, I'm 31 and my Itty Bitty baby is Elsie She's just over 8wks old and she was 11 days early and weighed 8lb 2oz when she was born. At 5 days her weight had dropped to 7lb9oz and it took her 6wks to get back to her birth weight. Since then she hasn't put on more than 3oz in a week and she now weighs 8lb 10oz.

She has been exclusively breastfed but last week i was advised by the HV to start topping up her feeds with formula. She suggested 4oz 3 times a day so we started with that last wednesday but she only drank 2oz at each feed. We've struggled with this decision all week but now we've decided to try just giving her a 4oz bottle after her evening feed. She still only drinks 3oz of it though! Apart from her weight she's a perfectly happy and healthy baby and she has plenty of wet and dirty nappies!

She's due to be weighed again tomorrow afternoon. Fingers crossed she's put a bit more on!!!

 

[teal]

florabean - that's great news - well done Harry!

tryin4number3 - hello I hope your formula top ups help and good luck for weigh in tomorrow.

My LO gets weigehd tomorrow. It's been four weeks but for the first time before a weigh in I'm not stressed out! xx

 

[florabean1981]

tryin4number3. 4oz 3 times a day on top of the breastfeeds sounds quite a lot for such a young baby to me, so I'm not surprised your little girl was struggling to drink quite that much But I'm glad you've found a happy medium in the night time bottle & I hope it makes a difference to your LO's weight gain (& maybe she'll be one of the lucky babies who'll sleep better from a night time bottle as well, lo?!)

Teal, good luck at G's weigh-in too

 

[Tryin4Number3]

maybe she'll be one of the lucky babies who'll sleep better from a night time bottle as well

I wish! Before the bottles she was sleeping between 6 & 9 hrs a night and now she's waking every 4hrs! x

 

[florabean1981]

maybe she'll be one of the lucky babies who'll sleep better from a night time bottle as well

I wish! Before the bottles she was sleeping between 6 & 9 hrs a night and now she's waking every 4hrs! x

Oh dear! Have her nappies changed at all with the formula? which formula are you giving her? Maybe try changing to another brand if the waking increases even more, just in case it's the formula sitting uncomfortably in her tummy... or maybe it's coz she got used to suckling for comfort on you & doesn't get that with a bottle so feels a bit more unsettled at the moment? I dunno, I'm just throwing ideas out there tbh I hope her sleeping gets back on track for you soon though!

 

[Seity]

Gabriel is finally sleeping better at night. I think he's around 12 lbs now, so I'm thinking maybe he's just finally reached the point where he eats enough to go longer stretches. He's recently started taking a 6 oz bottle most of the time and only waking once during the night this past week. Usually he only sleeps 7 hours total overnight, but I think he did 9 hours last night. If so, I hope he continues because that would be awesome for me. I'd love to get more than 6 hours sleep at night. I admit I've been thrilled with 5 hours in a row I've gotten this past week vs the 6 hours with multiple wakings, so I'm not going to count on it - just FX'd and hope for it to continue.
BTW - Formula vs breast milk didn't make any difference to his waking at night.

Tryin4 & teal - good luck with the weigh in's and let us know how your LO's are doing.

 

[teal]

Gabriel weighed 14lbs today! So he's gained 1lb 10oz in 4 weeks he's jumped from below the 2nd centile line to between the 2nd and 9th centile!

 

[Seity]

That's some super weight gain teal. Way to go other Gabriel